History Does (Not) Repeat Itself
by Stearl
Summary: Kuroba Kaito, a.k.a. both Kaito KID and the Holmes of Ekoda, goes to Tropical Land with Aoko and Hakuba to celebrate the start of the holidays. That night he is forced to swallow an experimental poison after witnessing an illegal transaction. Kaito is found by none other than Kudou Shinichi, who disappeared from the world 3 years ago, and has some secrets of his own…
1. Prologue

**I AM BACK :D**

 **So this is a story I've been working on (** ***cough*** **lying around *cough*) for 3 years, which is around the time I created my other story L'Amour Club Cyprus. And of course I upload the story years later onto x'D**

 **Will be updating LCC soon sometime later this week or next week after some more tweaks :D**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Prologue: The Incident of the Shrinking in the Night-Time**

Kuroba Kaito, renowned high school detective, also known as the Saviour of the Police, had solved another murder case. Although he didn't want to admit it, if he and one Hakuba Saguru hadn't shared their information to each other, they both would've taken hours longer to solve the case.

The two high school detectives were competitive and tried to outdo the other whenever given the chance. It also happened to be an unorthodox method to get the Brit off his back from the unrelenting Kaitou KID accusations. He was a detective, dammit! And a quite well known one as well! Why would he want to risk tarnishing his name and reputation he painstakingly built up?

…is his main argument against Hakuba's 'You are definitely Kaitou KID'. Hakuba was correct but he didn't need to know of Kaito's extracurricular activities.

So, for Kaito, if it wasn't for Hakuba's hawk that picked up the hook and bloodied piano wire then he wouldn't have figured out how the murder happened. Likewise, for Hakuba, if it wasn't for the fact that Kaito had known the murderer was a professional gymnast then he would've been at a loss as to who was the culprit was.

Currently the three of them, Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru and Nakamori Aoko, were eating ice cream at a parlour near the exit. It was late so they were enjoying their frozen treats while resting their legs.

Suddenly a ringtone sounded from Aoko's direction. Fishing her phone out and flipping it open, Aoko checked the contents of the message.

Bolting up from her seat she exclaimed, "Ah! I forgot all about it! I've got to go now!"

"Aoko-san, what seems to be the matter?" queried Hakuba.

"I forgot all about Keiko's present I was supposed to pick up today! Sorry but if I don't leave now I don't think I'll get there in time!"

"Will you be alright going by yourself?"

"Yea, I'll be fine thanks," she replied

"Ahoko, alright by herself? Yea, right." Kaito rolled his eyes, teasing his childhood friend.

"Bakaito! Of course I'll be okay! Ah! I really have to go now! Bye Kaito, Hakuba-kun!" Shouting over her shoulder, the long haired girl ran towards the exit, soon blending in with the leaving crowd.

Kaito and Hakuba stayed, finishing their ice cream. When Kaito was almost finished, he spotted one of the two men in black from earlier. They were the suspects from the murder. Even though Kaito had known they had nothing to do with the earlier murder, something about them rubbed him the wrong way. It was the burly one with glasses he was looking at now.

Keeping his eyes trained on the man, he said, "Hakuba, I think I'll be going as well." Not waiting for a reply he walked off, towards where he saw the man wearing sunglasses turn.

* * *

Saguru's eyes narrowed slightly and they followed the messy haired teenager until he turned a corner. Kuroba had slipped his detective mask on – the one that said 'I-found-a-criminal-and-I'm-not-gonna-let-them-go'. Debating whether he should go after the magician, Hakuba remained sitting. In the end he decided to follow his fellow detective, getting a bad feeling about it – if it was a criminal then there was a chance the criminal was dangerous. He rose from his seat and headed for where he last saw the teen.

* * *

So the men in black were involved in blackmailing and illegal trading of weaponry? He quietly took his camera out and began to discretely take photos of the transaction.

Hold on a second, where's the long haired one?

Kaito didn't register what the voice behind him said. All he knew next was that he had a very painful, throbbing headache; he was drifting in and out of consciousness; and was on the ground.

"…damn brat snooping…"

"…we do, aniki?"

"…gun away… untraceable poison…"

"…not tried on human…"

He felt something small along with liquid going down his throat. Untraceable poison? Great. He just had to have a supposedly untraceable poison that hadn't been tested on human beings forced into him.

His body began to feel as if it was on fire.

Burning…burning…So hot! It hurts! Am I dying…?

With that last thought, Kuroba Kaito blacked out.

* * *

Hakuba Saguru grimaced. Why was it so easy to lose that idiot of a magician? There just had to be so many trees around this part of the amusement park.

Did Kuroba go into the toilets? No, his facial expression when he left was set in determination, and he would've said he was going toilet if he was going to go there.

Besides, no sound came from the facility, and there were no fresh, muddy footprints that should've been there if someone went in recently, as there had been rain not too long ago.

He checked his pocket watch. It had been 24 minutes and 53.8 seconds since Kuroba had left the table.

As he tucked his watch back into his pocket, a rustle behind him caused him to swerve around and approach the location the sound had come from.

"Kuroba?" he called out.

The figure in the shadows became clearer as he got nearer to the person.

For a moment, Saguru felt relief. Relief that Kuroba Kaito, fellow detective and Kaitou KID suspect, was safe. Until his sharp eyes quickly noted the differences between Kuroba Kaito and this lookalike in front of him, that is.

The person wasn't Kuroba, but could certainly pass as his identical twin. Firstly, his hair was neat with a stubborn cowlick at the back of his head, unlike Kuroba's messy, untamed hair. Secondly, the elegant way he carried himself was different to Kuroba's childlike, hyperactivity. Saguru could list more differences, but upon noticing something in the stranger's arms, his mind halted for a second. The mirror image of Kuroba was holding a bundle of clothes.

The double blinked at him, confusion evident on his face,

"Kuroba?" echoed the doppelganger. "I'm not Kuroba. I'm Shinichi, Kudou Shinichi."

The name rang a bell but Saguru couldn't make the connection from name to memory. "Sorry, you looked like someone I know. My name is Hakuba Saguru."

"Oh, you're the high school detective appearing in the papers on a near weekly basis. You don't appear for a few weeks and then you're back again. I'm assuming you go overseas during those weeks, presumably England?"

The sudden analysis made Hakuba wary. An average person wouldn't say things that sound borderline stalker-ish upon first meeting someone.

"Yes, that is correct. You were right in assuming I went to England. How did you know?"

"Your features are different from an average Japanese person – your skin is pale, hair colour closer to blonde than brown and your eyes are of a garnet shade. You speak Japanese fluently although with an accent and your hair colour is not one that people would immediately say is blonde. This gives the impression that you are half Japanese. Your accent led me to think that you went to England during the time you are away. Having an accent usually means you lived in England for a long time. So I assumed you went to England to, for example, see your family.

Saguru blinked. "That…was superb. You are exceptional at deducing." Even though he said that he was still slightly wary of the other.

"Thank you. By the way did you happen to lose a child?"

Surprised by the random change in topic, Saguru asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I found this child lying on the ground with a head wound all alone where I was certain I heard a teenage male voice scream from."

Teenage male voice? Was that Kuroba's…?

"May I see his face?"

The face Kudou showed him shocked him. It was a miniature Kuroba! This child had come from where Kudou heard a teenage male voice. Unless Kudou had been wrong. But Kudou had been spot on with even the detail just by looking at him and hearing his accent. Also, Saguru recognised the baggy clothes on the child as the same as what Kuroba had been wearing.

But that couldn't be possible, could it? There was no way to de-age a person…

"So do you know him?"

"Yes, he is my…" He couldn't say 'friend' or 'acquaintance' and tell Kudou that he thought a 17 year old had miraculously turned into a 7 year old child, especially when he didn't have any evidence. If this child really was an ordinary child who happened to look like Kuroba then he couldn't just take the boy to Ekoda. "At least I think he is my cousin on my father's side."

Kudou looked sceptical. "You 'think'?"

Saguru hastily made up a story from the top of his head. "I have only met him a couple of times and the last time I saw him was a few years back. He lives here in Tokyo in a district near this amusement park with our grandfather. Everyone else in the family is busy and takes care of themselves, so after his parents died no one besides his grandfather could look after him. Jii-san is quite lax so I had heard he comes to Tropical Land by himself quite often. I had come here today with my friends and did not know that he was here so I am quite surprised to see him. Although, I'm not sure if it really is him or not..."

It was like a twisted version of the real story. Ekoda is a district in Tokyo and Jii Konousuke was most likely old enough to be a grandfather; was a grandfather-like figure to Kuroba; and did not seem like a strict person…

With this cover story he would be able to be with the unconscious child until he woke, confirm whether he was Kuroba or not, and make decisions from there. If he was indeed Kuroba then he would have to figure something out, together with a conscious Kuroba. If he wasn't Kuroba then Kudou could take the boy to the police – being the one who found him he would be able to inform the police better than Hakuba could.

"What's your cousin's name?"

Saguru thought for a bit. Bloody hell, he hadn't thought that far yet.

"Kei, Takahashi Kei."

* * *

 **TBC**


	2. Waking to a New Life

**Chapter 1: Waking to a New Life**

He was tired. As if he had run fifty marathons without stopping.

Okay, maybe that was exaggerating a bit but still, he felt as if he couldn't move any of his muscles.

He heard the sound of someone cooking in the kitchen downstairs. It was probably his mother preparing breakfast.

Turning over onto his side, he hugged the covers close to him, breathed in deeply, and froze mid-inhale. This…this wasn't his bed. It smelled unfamiliar and too fresh, as if it hadn't been slept in for a long time but washed frequently to stay clean. So he was in the guest room? But why would he be sleeping in the guest room of his own house?

It was then that he was alerted to another presence in the room he was in. And in that moment the events of the previous night came crashing back to him.

He was fed an untraceable poison! He shouldn't be alive!

Yet here he was, in a bed inside what was most likely a guest room, in a stranger's house, with someone in the very room he was in, along with the person in the kitchen fixing breakfast.

He was certain this was not what death was like.

Was he kidnapped? He remembered one of the two men saying something about 'not tried on human'. So these people have detained him to see what effects the poison had?

Shifting onto his other side so his back faced the wall adjacent to the bed, Kaito cracked an eye open and was shocked when he saw the other occupant of the room.

Hakuba was sleeping in an armchair on the opposite side of the enormous guest room, a few Sherlock Holmes books in a neat pile on the ground next to him.

Almost as soon as his mind thought, 'Did they kidnap Hakuba too?!' Kaito saw that Hakuba wasn't tied, and realised that neither was he. Also, the door was slightly open.

Perhaps the two of them weren't kidnapped. If they were then their kidnapper/s were doing a very, very poor job.

What had happened after he blacked out that ended up with Hakuba and him sleeping in a guest room in some stranger's house? Because this was definitely not Kaito's house and he didn't remember a room decorated like this in Hakuba's house.

At that moment the half-Brit stirred, causing Kaito's attention to go back to Hakuba.

The detective looked around the room, and then his eyes settled on Kaito.

At least it didn't seem as if Hakuba was wary, confused or surprised at the environment they were in.

Instead, Hakuba's full attention was on him.

"Kuroba?"

The tone Hakuba had said his name in was wary, unsure, wanting confirmation. This confused Kaito. He had never seen his rival look so uncertain and it was giving him the creeps since it didn't suit the usually confident, proud, arrogant teen.

"Yea?" he replied. His voice sounded weird, perhaps it was hoarse? But it didn't hurt…

Hakuba sat there frozen, still as a rock. Kaito could see the gears turning in his head. What was wrong with him?

"Are you really Kuroba Kaito?"

What's with the weird question? Kaito sat up in the bed. "Hakuba, did you lose some screws while you slept? Of course I'm Kuroba Kaito. Or did you forget me already?" He put on a mock hurt expression, hand clutched over his chest. Something didn't feel right… "How could you forget me, magician extraordinaire, when I have tried my utmost to make your life hell at school? Or is something out of place that you don't recognise me?"

As proof he was a magician, since Hakuba seemed to need it, Kaito flicked his wrist and made a rose appear in his fingers.

Or that was what was supposed to happen but instead his hand came up empty.

Kaito was shocked. What the HELL?! Why didn't his magic trick work? He always kept his roses in the same place! Last time he checked, there were enough to make a bouquet… Did someone empty his pockets?

Poker face, poker face, must remember Poker face…

"Kuroba, there is definitely something out of place."

What?

Hakuba continued. "You…might want to have a look at yourself, in the mirror."

Kaito jumped off the bed. Why was the bed so high up? Who had beds elevated that high off the floor? Then he almost tripped over his long, baggy pants and realised all of his clothes were much larger than him. He headed to the door where Hakuba pointed, which was probably the bathroom.

What the-? Why was everything so large? Who makes the doorknob so high?

Seeing his hand, Kaito froze. Why was his hand so small? Was his arm always this short?

No, he was pretty sure his arm wasn't this short.

Better check that mirror then.

* * *

When Kuroba had answered him and proceeded to talk as if nothing was wrong, Saguru thought he was hallucinating. The child really was Kuroba Kaito, and seemed to have the same mind as he did yesterday.

This meant only his body shrunk, turning him into a 7 year old child.

Although his mind still seemed to be 17.

Kuroba was taking long, perhaps he should check on him.

Standing up and heading towards the guest bathroom Kuroba had disappeared into, he thought on this matter some more.

It shouldn't be possible to change the human body to what it was 10 years ago, yet the proof that it had indeed happened was right in front of him.

He hadn't missed the way Kuroba froze just before reaching the doorknob. He probably had a vague idea on what happened to him then.

Upon entering the bathroom, he saw one mini Kuroba Kaito, staring dumbfounded at the reflection that showed him the horrid truth of what his appearance was now. If Kuroba sensed him entering then he didn't show it.

The silence went on until Kuroba found his voice again.

"H-Hakuba? How? How did this…?"

There it was – the question he was waiting for.

"I do not know how you ended up like this. Someone else had found you first and was carrying you when we happened to run into each other. He showed me your face, asking if I knew you. I had a feeling the child in his arms was you so I made up a background for a 'Takahashi Kei', saying you were my cousin…"

Saguru proceeded to tell Kuroba the cover story he told Kudou Shinichi.

"Really? You could only up with such a common, bland name?" was the first thing Kuroba said to him.

"I didn't have much time to think. Deal with it."

Kuroba was now facing him, processing the new information.

It was a lot to take in. To wake up one morning to find yourself in a body you grew out of 10 years ago…

"Kuroba, what happened when you disappeared?"

This time, the magician detective told the half-British detective about going after the one of the two black men from earlier yesterday, saw the illegal deal between the man and a CEO, got caught watching it and was fed an experimental poison.

"Experimental…poison…?" Saguru gave the shrunken teen a 'are you serious?' look. "Kuroba, first you go actively searching for cases and nearly end up dying on a quarter year basis. Not only that but now you have ingested an experimental poison that we may never find the cure of?"

Saguru watched as Kuroba sighed. "What am I going to do now?"

"It would be dangerous for you to go and reveal who you really are. If those men in black find that you are alive then they'll definitely kill you."

Kuroba scowled. "I get that, it's just…how am I going to live in this body? If, and there's a chance I might not, I somehow get an antidote for this poison, until that time comes, how am I supposed to live as a CHILD? And to get an antidote I would first need a sample of the poison itself. There's no way I can get my hands on it."

There was a moment of silence as both he and Kuroba thought of ways to tackle this tall brick wall that had suddenly emerged as a hurdle in the life of Kuroba Kaito.

And it just had to be at that moment when Kudou came up the stairs.

* * *

A knock on the open door startled Kaito out of his thoughts.

"Good morning, Hakuba-san. Breakfast is ready so come down to the dining room…unless the two of you want to go back to playing statue."

A chuckle left the teen whose appearance stunned Kaito. The person looked exactly like him! …Wait, there were slight differences. Still, if he wasn't Kuroba Kaito then he would've thought the teen at the door to be him.

"Sorry, I was telling him he should be careful when he goes outside by himself, especially at Tropical Land, and to not stay out that late again."

What? Where did that…? Oh. The story Hakuba made up. Right.

"Being by yourself at that time of night is dangerous for anyone," agreed Kudou. "Ah, Kei-kun. Would you like to change into some better fitting clothes? I still have some clothes from when I was younger that will probably fit you."

Kaito looked down at himself and his clothes and remembered almost tripping earlier. "Yes, please!"

Kudou nodded and left, then came back with clothes that fit Kaito perfectly. While Kaito was getting changed, Kudou left again for 'Kei's' privacy, and Hakuba was lost in thought.

He thought it was odd that Kudou Shinichi, 17 years of age, still had clothes from when he was around 7. Hakuba passed it off as it was up to people to throw old clothes away or not, but he couldn't dismiss the fact that Kudou hadn't questioned Kaito's extremely large clothes. Surely it would have raised a few questions?

"I'm done!" shouted Kaito, jerking Hakuba out of his thoughts.

Kudou came back gave a little smile and seeing the beaming 'Kei' in clothes that now fit him.

"Shall we go downstairs, then?"

Kaito and Hakuba both nodded and followed the teen whose name Kaito didn't know. He did look familiar, though. No, it wasn't just because he was similar in appearance to Kaito, or would be if he was still in a seventeen year old body.

Stepping out of the guest room he was amazed at the abundance of rooms the house, no, mansion had. The inside was elaborately decorated and furnished, chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, numerous paintings on the walls around him.

Deciding to act like the little child his body was, Kaito exclaimed, "Wow! This house is huge Saguru-niichan!" and began darting around everywhere.

Then again, he would've done the same if he was in his teenage body as well.

He inwardly laughed at Hakuba's face – he was taken aback at the sudden burst of exclamation, and the niichan suffix along with use of his given name had thrown the half-Brit off balance. Mind you, that wasn't his intention but it was funny nonetheless.

Running around the house like he was excited wasn't a hard thing to do since it was in his nature to be overly energetic.

He heard Hakuba shout after him. "Ku-Kei-kun!"

He passed by various paintings, tables, chairs and bookshelves that went up the ceiling.

A big, shiny, black something in one of the rooms down the hallway caught his eye.

Pushing the door open and entering, he saw that it was indeed a music room. A grand piano stood in the centre. Rushing over to it, he slid his hands over it and found there was no dust on it. While he was running around he had noted how there didn't seem to be dust remotely anywhere. Even though it seemed the teen lived alone – there were no other signs of life.

A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Kei-kun? Do you like the piano?"

Turning around, he saw the teenage boy in the doorway.

"Yea! I really, really, really like pianos! Actually, I like all kinds of instruments and music!"

Just then his stomach rumbled. Loudly. A light blush appeared on Kaito's face.

The teen smiled. "I'll show you some other instruments but we should eat breakfast first. We'll come back afterwards, alright?"

"Okay!" Kaito chirped.

Following the teen out of the room, he realised he still didn't know the other's name yet.

Passing what he assumed was the living room; Kaito saw a large family portrait of three. It was about as big as the portrait of his father in his own room. There was a man, a woman and a small child who looked eerily similar to his current shrunk form, albeit with neatly groomed hair like the teen in front of him. The child was the teen when he was younger.

With a start he recognised both the man and the woman – Kudou Yuusaku, the famous mystery writer known for his Night Baron series along with helping the police solve cases as a hobby, and Kudou Yukiko, the retired actress whose acting and disguise could easily rival Chris Vineyard and Kaitou KID.

Then the teen in front of him was…

Realising Kaito had stopped had caused the teen to turn around and look at him puzzled since the child seemed to be deep in thought.

"Is something the matter, Kei-kun?"

Time to confirm what he thought. "Ah, it's just that I don't know your name, niisan."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot I haven't introduced myself to you. I'm Kudou Shinichi. Nice to meet you, Kei-kun."

Kudou outstretched a hand. Kaito took and shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Shinichi-niisan."

* * *

Kudou had told him to go to the dining room first, saying he would find 'Kei' since the house was big and he didn't want two guests who didn't know where things were to both get lost in his house.

Kudou was partially right. He knew how to get to the dining room since he had gone down from the guest room last night. But he wouldn't get lost in a house – he had a good enough memory so he would know where every room was after having gone through it once.

Then again Kudou's offer to look for the hyperactive was probably the better option for Saguru. If he had found Kuroba then the shrunken teen would undoubtedly start pranking him and make finding him harder. At least if Kudou found Kuroba then things would go more calmly, hopefully.

When the two entered the dining room he saw Kuroba animatedly having a mostly one-sided conversation with Kudou who listened attentively, praising 'Kei-kun' for his skill in magic.

The two sat down at the table where Saguru was and joined him in eating the surprisingly delicious food Kudou had made. Eating didn't seem to hinder Kuroba's chattering as he continued talking about how his father was the world's greatest magician and how he really wanted to become a magician as great as his father was.

Each time Kudou spoke almost gave Saguru a heart attack, hoping he wouldn't ask the question 'What was your father's name?' It turned out he didn't have to worry since Kudou seemed to have taken 'the world's greatest' as a child's exaggeration. Thankfully he didn't take it literally.

Last night while keeping watch of the sleeping not-child and reading the Sherlock Holmes books Kudou had lent him, Saguru had thought back to why the name and appearance of Kudou Shinichi was familiar. He hadn't thought on it when they took Kuroba to Kudou's house, which also seemed familiar, to treat the head wound and rest for the night.

It was when he was about to read 'The Final Problem' that he remembered the name Kudou Shinichi from the newspapers a few years back. He had visited Japan and his father had once talked of a middle school detective who beat the police in deduction speed and power. His father had said that Kudou Shinichi was the same age as Saguru himself, 13 then, and had begun appearing in the papers as the 'Middle School Holmes'.

When Saguru would go back to England, his father sent him the local newspaper on his request so that he could keep track of what Kudou did in the papers diligently and see Kudou's progress. It was interesting, that a middle school student had gained the respect of the Tokyo police force and would be called for help if the police were stumped and Kudou wasn't on the scene already.

That was until the following year when Saguru was 14, one day Kudou didn't appear in any news. There was no news of Kudou Shinichi from then on. It was as if he had simply disappeared off the face of the earth. A month later the press had printed articles containing speculations and rumours circulating the sudden loss in solving cases by the Middle School Holmes.

Some said it was because the numerous murder cases he had solved had gotten to him in his young age, traumatising him. Sure he was a brilliant detective, however there was only so much a boy could take, they said. Other people said that he was on hiatus, focusing on his studies to become a police detective or open his own agency when he graduated.

Saguru hadn't believed in either of the main two arguments. If it was the former then there would have been an article saying the Middle School Holmes had 'retired'. If it was the latter then Kudou would've said so – it was nothing to hide.

The last case Kudou Shinichi had been involved in had been hidden from the public, kept confidential. Only high ranking police officers knew of the case, and even fewer knew the details. Saguru remembered speculating that last case had everything to do with the disappearance of the Middle School Holmes, but since it was a confidential file he wouldn't be able to confirm it.

What was suspicious was that the news reporters and paparazzi who had staked out at the Kudou residency hadn't seen any lights on when the darkness fell, and didn't see anyone moving around inside either. Kudou had literally disappeared off the face of the earth. Determined reporters and detectives had no luck finding any leads on where the boy had gone, always returning empty handed. People eventually gave up a year later, when it seemed no one would ever return to the house to live in it.

Yet Saguru had been invited into the Kudou mansion by Kudou Shinichi himself, reading Kudou's collection of the Sherlock Holmes series.

When had the teen returned to Japan? Or more specifically, the previously empty house.

When they had arrived at Kudou's house Saguru had felt he had seen the building before. Now, while he could think without any interruptions, he remembered he had seen it in the papers he read.

No wonder Kudou Shinichi had seemed familiar.

That and Saguru now knew why Kudou had been so dead on with his uncanny ability to deduce things from a mere glance.

He had wanted to meet the genius detective when he came back to Japan but by that time the detective was lost to the world, and found that even the police in Beika didn't know of Kudou Shinichi's whereabouts.

Hakuba had met the phantom detective.

* * *

After breakfast, they had gone to the music room, as Kudou had promised Kuroba.

He showed Kuroba the grand piano first, as it was in clear view, and let him play it. Saguru was sure Kuroba's piano skills were better than what he showed, but he was acting as a child here – a 'normal' child who was already exceptional at magic tricks.

His rose trick from earlier hadn't worked because his pocket had 'moved', so his hand had reached for its usual place only to grab nothing since the pocket was further away as the clothes were too big for him.

Kudou interrupted Kuroba's piano playing, which was just him pressing any and all keys. "Kei-kun do you want to see some other instruments?"

"There's more?! Yes I want to see more!"

The energy and chirping of the little Kuroba was getting slightly easier to endure, to Saguru's dismay.

Kudou opened the double doors to a walk-in wardrobe in the room and brought out the instruments on the floor for Kuroba and Saguru to see. There was a violin, cello, harp, xylophone, marimba, oboe, clarinet, flute, harmonica, saxophone, ocarina, guitar and even a Biwa.

Both his and Kuroba's eyes were wide from the number of instruments that were in the seemingly small space.

"Do you play all of those instruments, Kudou-san?"

"I tune the string instruments when I have time, and play a few basic pieces on them or on some of the others. My mother plays all of these here with great skill – most of them are hers. My father can play a few but he usually sticks to the saxophone, clarinet or the Biwa."

"What about you, Shinichi-niisan?" asked Kuroba.

"I'm confident in playing the violin, if that is what you mean." Kudou looked at the violin fondly.

"Holmes could play the violin as well." Saguru recalled.

"Yes, actually that is the reason I took violin lessons – to be like Holmes." So the Holmes collection was indeed Kudou's, and not one of his relative's.

"Then did you perhaps learn fencing as well?"

"Unfortunately they didn't offer fencing at the schools I went to so instead I played soccer."

"Wow! Is Shinichi-niisan a good soccer player?"

Kudou scratched the back of his head and blushed slightly. "I suppose you could say that."

* * *

They spent longer than they thought they would in the music room – they had stayed in there from straight after breakfast to just before lunch. Kaito and Hakuba had lunch with Kudou, as they did with breakfast, and then were given a tour around the house.

Every room they went into, Kaito had spent at least 10 minutes in each one, looking interested in all the paintings and decorations in the rooms.

Although he was interested in the interior design and 'how cool it looked', he was also looking for hints as to why Kudou Shinichi had suddenly disappeared three years ago, and why he was not solving cases like he did before when he had come back. Kaito, like Hakuba, had recalled the fact that Kudou Shinichi is the Middle School Holmes who went missing. Although there probably weren't any hints, it didn't hurt to try looking for them.

Unbeknownst to him, Hakuba was also doing the same, except more discretely. He felt he did not have the liberty to poke and prod at everything like Kaito since he wasn't a child and it would be ill mannered of him to do so.

Kaito had had a suspicion ever since the Heisei Holmes (Modern Day Holmes) had appeared. No one knew of his real identity and went by the name of 'Higashi-tantei', literally 'Detective East'. Both were names given to the same person by the press. He helped solve cases the police were stumped on, just like the Middle School Holmes had, except Higashi solved the cases without even being on the scene. He solved them over the phone and was always deadly accurate.

Kaito's suspicion was that the Middle School Holmes and the Heisei Holmes were one and the same i.e. they were both aliases of Kudou Shinichi. Now he just had to find the evidence…

In the end, after scouring through the whole mansion, he didn't find any clues to anything. The house was like a design house of the Victorian age – everything was so elaborately designed. But that was it – ornate and showing nothing personal. Even Kudou's own room was a model, and didn't seem personalised. It was as if the whole house was for show, and all Kudou did was sleep in the bed.

The fact that he didn't know what he was looking for made it harder to look for evidence, and he also had to make sure Kudou didn't suspect anything. Although Kaito thought he probably wouldn't suspect anything from a child, one could never be sure around a detective, especially one as unpredictable as Kudou Shinichi if the disappearance act 3 years ago was anything to go by.

After dinner Kaito and Hakuba bid farewell after thanking him for his hospitality.

Kudou had responded with "No problem. You two are welcome here anytime."

Hakuba and Kudou had traded numbers. Kaito wanted to as well since he had admired the Middle School Holmes when he was in the papers. His admiration had been revived, especially after seeing his personality – he was such a kind person, taking home an injured boy he found along with his 'guardian' and letting the two stay for almost 24 hours.

Kudou had confirmed that he used to be the Middle School Holmes; the keywords being 'used to be'. Hakuba had accidently let it slip that he knew the Middle School Holmes and had admired his work as a detective. Kudou's reaction to the pseudonym hadn't revealed anything either. Both Kaito and Hakuba knew he was hiding something but his 'normalness' didn't expose anything at all.

Kaito just had to be in a child's body – he shouldn't know of the Middle School Holmes since he was 'supposedly' 3 or 4 at the time, when he should be interested in and watching kids' shows.

However Kaito always took chances no matter how small, so he had asked Kudou to trade phone numbers with him as well while Hakuba was entering his number into Kudou's phone.

He had said he wanted to 'play with Shinichi-niisan again'.

Lady Luck favoured him once again and now Kaito had Kudou Shinichi's number.

Kaito had run around, squealing like a fangirl, which Kudou had taken as a child opening his presents on Christmas.

They said their goodbyes once again and this time he and Hakuba left the Kudou residence, heading for the train station.

* * *

The train ride back to Ekoda had been a silent one, neither wanting to talk of the event that had transpired the previous day.

When they got off the train, Hakuba dragged Kaito to his house, to which Kaito had reluctantly agreed. He couldn't go home in his small body after all.

Upon entering the house, they had gone straight up to Hakuba's room.

They were silent for approximately 5 minutes, maintaining eye contact, until Hakuba spoke up.

"So? What do you plan on doing, Kuroba?"

To be honest, Kaito hadn't thought of much. He had been too busy exploring his idol's house.

Hakuba continued. "Those men in black who did this to you are expecting you to be dead. Appearing in public as a child looking exactly like a Kuroba Kaito, will have them hunt you down. Knowing you, you're highly likely to involve yourself in a murder case if one comes up. It'll be the same as carrying a neon sign saying, 'I'm actually Kuroba Kaito now in a child's body!'"

While the half-Brit was talking, Kaito had been going over possible plans of action that were all deemed to be not good enough by him and scrapped.

He didn't have any relatives since both his mother and father didn't have siblings. He and Hakuba didn't look even a smidge alike. He thought it was a miracle that Kudou had believed him to be Hakuba's cousin. Jii was too busy to look after a child so he couldn't possibly stay with him. He couldn't join a random person's family, even if they shared similarities in looks to him…

"Adding to that, your constant need for attention means you will do your magic tricks in front of anyone, anywhere, like today at Kudou-san's house…"

Wait.

Kaito began to smile a smile, one that Hakuba recognised as 'I have an incredible plan'.

"Hakuba, you just gave me a great idea."

"And what would that be?"

"I could live with Kudou Shinichi!"

At that outburst, Hakuba looked cynical.

"You think he would agree to a child living with him? One he has absolutely no ties to? Also, he is, or was, a detective who retains his great deduction skills! What makes you think you can sleep under the same roof as our predecessor to the title 'Saviour of the Police' without being found out?"

"Do you honestly think a normal person would think someone could shrink? Even if that thought crosses their minds, unless it is right in their faces as in your case, no typical person would think along those lines!"

"That's exactly it, Kuroba. Kudou-san is NOT a typical person, in case you didn't realise disappearing off the face of the earth and reappearing without alerting any media isn't as easy as your sleight of hand."

"Then we're lucky the summer holidays just started, aren't we?"

Kaito grinned as he could see the confusion in Hakuba's eyes from the seemingly unrelated topic.

Realisation dawned on Hakuba and Kaito's grin grew wider as Hakuba face palmed.

"You…you're not seriously considering doing it, are you?"

Kaito replied in an overly sweet, overly creepy, childlike tone. "Whatever could you mean, Saguru-niichan?"

He laughed when Hakuba flinched then sighed deeply.

Kaito began explaining his plan to him.

This was going to be a long night for the British detective.

* * *

 **TBC**


	3. A Day with Kudou Shinichi

**So uh... I decided to finish the chapter that was almost finished after more than a year? ha...haha...**

 **Hoping to update this story a bit more often o_o if I don't get depressed over uni (which is starting again soon) that is o_o**

 **I don't think I'll be updating my other story for now as I'm more into this one at the moment...**

 **Anyway to answer a few inquiries, no this story is not going to have any pairings of any kind. Originally it was meant to follow canon pairings but then I kinda realised it would be hard to incorporate with the plot I had in mind. So I'll be taking out the Romance part of the genres for this story. Any 'pairing' in this story will be limited to bromance.**

 **(I hope I still have readers even with this break I had o_o)**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: A Day with Kudou Shinichi (and Preparations)**

Kaito made it his mission to meet with Kudou Shinichi at least 3 times a week, sometimes going with Hakuba, sometimes without him. His reason had been that he was bored whenever the summer holidays came since there was no one to play with – his friends at school bullied him because he was so good at magic tricks and was an outcast in his class.

In reality, Kuroba Kaito was usually bored in the holidays because there was no one to prank. So he usually spent his days planning for a spectacular first day of school prank – one that involved lots of glitter, confetti, costumes and either wigs or hair dyes.

Hanging out with Kudou had been awesome no matter where they went. They went to the movies, museum, shopping mall, arcade, and even Tropical Land again. They had had a ride spree where they aimed to ride all the attractions there in one day, which they somehow managed to do.

Today was the start of the third week of the month long holiday, and was also the final mark in his plan. Everything was going accordingly. He had gotten closer to Kudou, and could see that the teen was beginning to open up to him more as well.

After hopping off the train, Kaito ran along the path to Kudou's house – one that he was very familiar with now. Upon meeting Kudou at the gates, the two left the vicinity hand in hand.

Kaito had been happy to hold hands. People usually didn't get to hold hands with their idol often after all. Lady Luck had let him meet with the teen he idolised and he was content to meet with him like this, going places and having lunch with Kudou Shinichi. Even if the end of his plan doesn't go well, he would be very glad he had time to spend his holiday with his idol.

"Where do you want to go today, Kei-kun?"

"Um..." Kaito hadn't thought of a place to go yet. He had been too focused on the fact that it was nice and also easy to hold hands with Kudou.

"How about we go to the aquarium today?"

Kaito froze on the spot. Aquarium…?

Kudou stopped too, and looked down to face the boy. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, um…C-can we not go to the aquarium?"

"Why? I thought you'd be just as excited as you were when we went to the museum. There are a wide variety of fish you can look at, after all."

Seeing Kaito flinch at the word fish, Kudou crouched down to his level and saw the scared look on the boy's face.

"Kei-kun? Are you afraid of fish?"

Now his idol knew of his phobia! Why did Kudou Shinichi have to have such great deduction skills?

Then again his fear was pretty obvious if he went around flinching at those f-finny things.

"Y-Yea…" Kaito bowed his head in embarrassment. Would Kudou make fun of his phobia, like many others before him?

Surprisingly, Kudou didn't laugh at him and instead smiled. "Then you should've said so. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Standing up again and taking the smaller hand in his, they began walking back towards the Kudou mansion.

Kaito looked up to Kudou again, both literally and figuratively. He was a really kind person, so compassionate! Besides his parents, Jii and Aoko, no one had ever taken his ichthyophobia seriously, though they sometimes teased him about his fear every once in a while.

But Kaito didn't know why they were heading back towards Kudou's house.

"Shinichi-niisan? Why are we going back?"

Kudou answered with a question of his own. "Do you want to go to the newly opened water park?"

"Sure!" replied Kaito.

The teen smiled as if he was expecting the answer. "Well, we can't go into a water park without the appropriate swim gear, can we?"

"But I don't have any swim gear."

"Don't worry, I've got it all sorted out."

* * *

Kudou really had it all sorted out. He had been planning to go to the beach with him the next week. So the teen had bought swim shorts that was Kaito's size. It fit perfectly, too.

Since he found out Kaito was scared of fish, he had altered his plan to go to the water park instead, where there was a 0% chance of fish appearing in the water.

Currently they were about to get on one of the best hydro slides in the park called the Shadow Snake – one with a lot of twists and turns, was quite long and speedy, and ended with shooting out of the slide and into the air then landing in a deep pool.

Being held by strong arms, with his back against a toned chest and sitting on lean legs had Kaito blushing while hoping Kudou didn't notice it. He hadn't been held so close to anyone in years, since he was old enough to not be coddled. Kudou would definitely think something was off if a child blushed at being held intimately.

"Kei-kun, are you ready?"

"Yea!"

With that the two slid into the darkness of the hydro slide, and were soon rushing through, unexpected twists and turns all over the place.

The whole time Kaito could only think of the firm hold Kudou had on him. It was a protective embrace, one that doesn't suffocate. He couldn't help but feel as if he had nothing to worry about, as if the world was just Kaito in Kudou's arms.

When they shot out of the slide and into the air, the bright sun rays momentarily blinded him, and Kaito felt like he was carried by a soaring angel. In that brief moment everything felt so ethereal, so perfect. Kudou hadn't let him go like he thought he might, and he was surprisingly happy that he hadn't released him.

All too soon the feeling of flying disappeared and they splashed into the deep pool. The teen immediately swam to the surface using his legs and one arm to swim, his charge occupying the other. As soon as they broke the surface, Kaito took in a deep breath of air and found that they were at the edge of the pool, where the people sliding down after them wouldn't hit them if they were too slow to get out.

Facing Kudou he exclaimed, "Shinichi-niisan that was awesome!"

"Do you want to go on it again?"

"Yea, I do!" The angelic feeling while they were airborne made Kaito recall Thurston's three principles.

The one that stood out to him was the second principle – never perform the same magic for the same audience more than once. Otherwise the feeling of wonder is lost and people would instead be more focused on unravelling the trick.

Similarly, if Kaito was to go on the hydro slide with Shinichi again, he would try to look for the magical feeling of an angel carrying him, and would end up not feeling anything.

Kaito decided to treasure the memory, and purposely not look for it again.

"Actually, I don't wanna go on it again."

"Why?"

"Because I wanna go on all the other rides!" said Kaito, hastily making up an excuse.

"Alright then, do you want to go on the Whirl Vortex?"

"Sure!"

The angel will appear again, Kaito was sure of it. It was just a gut instinct he had. He just had to wait for the time when the angel will reappear, hopefully in the near future. And that meant Kaito definitely had to convince Kudou to take him in. He was now more determined than ever to make his plan work.

* * *

It was evening, and Kaito was playing chess with Kudou. He noticed that the teen was obviously going easy on him, to match a child's level of playing. Kaito made sure to lose purposely a few times, and make mistakes that children would usually make.

Kaito looked at the clock. It was almost time for the end of his plan.

The seconds hand struck twelve, and at that precise moment the doorbell rang.

Kudou stood up and went to the door, opening it.

"Good evening, Hakuba-san."

The half-Brit at the door replied, "Good evening to you to, Kudou-san."

Hakuba followed Kudou in and closed the door behind him.

It had become a routine of sorts, where Hakuba would come to pick Kaito up literally at 8 o'clock sharp if he hadn't been with them that day. No proper guardian would let a child catch a train by themselves at 8pm, so they had decided that Hakuba would come and take Kaito home.

"Kei-kun it's time to go home."

It was time to start the end phase of his three week long plan.

Kaito pouted and put his best hurt puppy look on. "I don't wanna go home."

"What?" Hakuba blinked at him. Good. Hakuba was doing a good job acting as the confused cousin.

"Jii-san isn't home anymore so it's going to be really lonely."

At this Kudou looked more interested in their conversation.

"Don't you remember you're staying with me for the time being?" said Hakuba.

"But you said that I have to go live with auntie and her family before school starts…" Kaito trailed off.

"They'll take good care of you, Kei-kun." Hakuba sounded exasperated. Kaito was surprised the Brit could actually act with a certain amount of skill.

"But I don't wanna go there!" Kaito pouted.

"What's this about?" interrupted Kudou.

Kaito inwardly grinned. Yes, this was all going according to plan.

Hakuba turned to Kudou and began 'explaining'. "Our grandfather had some important things come up, so Kei-kun has been staying with me for the time being. However once school begins neither I nor my father will have time to take care of him. So we had arranged for Kei-kun to stay with our relatives from next week, but as you can see he has been opposing the idea of staying with them."

"What do you and your father do for you to be so busy?"

Oh crap, there it was. The question Kaito hoped wouldn't come up.

"My father is a superintendent general in the Ekoda police, so he always has a swarm of paperwork to do. I have schoolwork, which is easy but the amount they give at my school is quite insane. Adding to that, as a high school detective, the police require paperwork from the cases I solve."

It was true that Hakuba's father was extremely busy – he hardly returned home early and when he did, he really did have mountain loads of paperwork to do. Hakuba on the other hand, had lied about the amount of homework Ekoda High gave. It was actually a decent amount – enough to be annoying. And he didn't have to fill out any paperwork for him to be too busy to take care of a child.

Basically, Hakuba was exaggerating and Kaito knew it. But it had to be done for Kaito's plan to work.

Inside, Kaito was hoping Kudou didn't know what being a high school detective was like. Hopefully he would think that as you got older, you had to take on more responsibility for the cases you solved?

Both Kaito and Hakuba had resumed their 'We have to go, now' and 'No, I don't wanna! I'm gonna stay here with Shinichi-niisan!' while keeping a discreet eye on how Kudou was reacting to the 'news'.

Kudou looked thoughtful, and seemed to be thinking about…something. Neither high school detectives could tell what was going on in the Middle School Holmes' head.

He seemed to have reached a decision and cleared his throat, causing Hakuba and Kaito to pause in their banter to look at Kudou.

"If Kei-kun insists on staying with me, then I'll see what I can do to accommodate him." At this Kaito brightened and Hakuba was surprised and shocked. To think Kaito's plans went as smoothly as he planned, perhaps even easier than he had thought was a surprise to both of them. "Of course there is also the matter of Kei-kun's education – if he will be staying with me then attending Ekoda Elementary wouldn't be the best choice and instead would be better to transfer to Teitan Elementary, which is closer…"

While Kudou listed off a few more things they had to do such as getting permission from Kei-kun's grandfather, Hakuba and Kaito exchanged a look pertaining to 'I can't believe it actually worked' and 'See, I told you it would work'.

In the end, the three came to an agreement to discuss these matters in more detail with Jii, 'their grandfather', next week when Kei-kun comes over again.

* * *

This time, the train ride back to Ekoda wasn't as silent as the first time they returned from Kudou's place. Kaito was bouncing around all over the place, happy and excited that he gets to stay with his Shinichi-niisan. Hakuba had long given up trying to restrain the hyperactive not-child and resorted to pretending to not know the boy – which was futile as Kaito would call out "Ne, ne, Saguru-niichan! Don't you think this is great?! This is gonna be awesome!"

They had a mutual agreement to refrain from talking about the details of the arrangement until they got to Hakuba's house, as it was better to not risk being overheard.

Even by the time the two got to Hakuba's room, Kaito was still hyped. That is, until Hakuba watched the not-child for a while and then said, "You do know you'll have to be going to elementary school, again, right?"

Kaito froze. And deflated. And groaned.

"Why do I have to go to elementary school, AGAIN? I'm gonna be so bored out of my mind!" whined Kaito with a dramatic flop onto the ground. Perking up again he exclaimed, "Well, if it's to be with Kudou Shinichi-sama then I can endure anything!"

Hakuba let out a sigh. Of course Kuroba Kaito wouldn't feel down for long. He was so optimistic about everything.

"Kuroba."

The tone in Hakuba's voice made Kaito pause and look at him. "Yea?"

"There's a few…problems I realised that we have to resolve. Firstly, your mother will be coming back to an empty house when she arrives in two days. We'll have to inform her about your…situation." Hakuba being the Kaitou KID (and Kuroba Kaito) stalker he is, knew when Kaito's mother would be coming back to visit her son.

"But Hakuba, I can't drag my mum into this!"

"Do you think it is wiser that she sends out a search party for her missing son and make her worry about your safety?"

That was a valid point. Kaito didn't want his mother involved in this, but he also didn't want to worry her. Who knew what the Phantom Lady would do? Kaito sighed. He would have to tell her what happened to him.

Seeing Kaito's resigned expression, Hakuba nodded and continued, "Secondly, we'll also need to tell your family friend, Jii Kounosuke, as he will need to play the role of our grandfather and talk to Kudou about 'Kei' staying with him and also help us with the transfer papers."

Kaito was reluctant to, but knew he had to involve the two people who were family to him, and also knew that he was Kaitou KID. Kaito's eyes widened.

Hakuba watched Kaito freeze on the spot again and carried on, "Thirdly, although this may not affect you since you're 'not Kaitou KID'," Hakuba rolled his eyes and used air quotations to emphasise his sarcasm, "KID had announced there will be a heist on the Saturday after the first week back at school. Of course I'll be there as always to catch the thief, but I would like you to join me this heist and see if KID will actually show up to this heist."

Kaito knew why Hakuba had phrased his sentences in that way. A shrunken Kaito, Hakuba's prime KID suspect, would not be able to suddenly become adult sized unless they had a way to reverse the effects of the poison. Which in turn meant that Kaitou KID would not be showing up at his heist.

Through the whirlwind that his life had become due to the poison, Kaito had forgotten he sent out a heist note before all this chaos. If Kaitou KID doesn't show up to the heist Hakuba will definitely cement his suspicions that Kaito is KID. Hakuba wouldn't be able to do anything with that information anyway, but there was a difference between suspecting and knowing. If Jii takes over being KID for Kaito, everyone will be able to see the difference, and Hakuba and the task force will just assume (correctly) that Kaito had someone stand in for him, which still led to Hakuba confirming Kaito is KID.

So far Hakuba only had strong suspicions, not a confirmation that Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou KID were one and the same. Although it still wouldn't be counted as evidence, Hakuba would know for sure the identity of Kaitou KID. He couldn't call off the heist as that would result in the same conclusion.

"Yea sure, I'll come with you to the heist," chirped Kaito as Hakuba looked at him sceptically. "I don't want to miss any of KID-sama's heists after all!"

It was better this way, Kaito decided. To hope for a miracle rather than asking Jii to cover for him.

Lady Luck was always on his side, after all.

* * *

To Kaito's surprise, his mother had accepted the fact that he was physically de-aged by an experimental poison more easily than Jii did. Chikage had been surprised but took one look at Kaito, and knew Kaito was telling the truth, whereas Kaito had to talk about Kaitou KID and also his father for Jii to be convinced. Thankfully, Hakuba wasn't here to hear about KID and the 'What are we going to do about Kaitou KID's heist?' questions.

Currently, they were in Kaito's room as a one-sided argument took place.

"Bocchama! Please let this Jii take over for you for this one heist!" insisted Jii.

"No, I refuse. I would rather have Hakuba on my tail and suspect me since he can't do anything about me in this state anyway. If Hakuba catches onto you, Jii, he's going to go after both of us and I don't want that to happen," said Kaito.

"I think we should leave this to Kaito," intervened Chikage. "I would rather have a Kaitou KID who doesn't show up to his heist, than chance an imposter be arrested or hurt by Snake if he happens to be there, especially if it is you who will take over, Jii. Besides, who knows? Perhaps Kaitou KID will show up due to some miracle?"

Kaito turned to look at his mother and stared. There was no way a miracle was to happen, unless his mother was going to pose as Kaitou KID for him? She was the Phantom Lady, after all. There would be no better candidate than her to be a fake Kaitou KID.

Jii finally relented after Kaito and Chikage's dual effort to dissuade him from dressing up as KID for the heist.

"All three of us and Hakuba-kun will go to the heist and watch it together, alright?" Chikage smiled in a way Kaito recognised as her secretive smile. Wait, so his mother wouldn't be donning the monocle and hat? Well, if she knows something then it should be fine, as long as it didn't involve any of them becoming Kaitou KID for a night.

The three then started planning how they would go about the arrangements for Kaito to be staying with Kudou Shinichi, and also enrolling Kaito into Teitan Elementary.

"Why did Bocchama decide to stay with Kudou Shinichi instead of Chikage-sama or myself?" Jii asked.

Kaito stammered. "Well, uh…I mean…um…" To be honest, he had wanted to figure out the mystery behind Kudou Shinichi, and what happened to him during the time he disappeared. Kaito didn't really have other reasons in mind. Although, since Kudou was a detective…

"Being with a detective, Kaito would be able to find the Black Organisation a bit faster. That would mean he would have a higher chance of finding them and getting his hands on the poison they used on him to make an antidote."

Now Kaito was sceptical of his mother. "How do you know they're an organisation? I only saw two people wearing black that day."

"Don't you think there would be an organisation of some sort if they had an experimental poison with them?" There was that secretive smile again.

His mother definitely knew more than she let on, Kaito decided. Two people did not definitely mean an organisation, and his mother seemed confident enough in her facts to label them the 'Black Organisation'. The question was what did she know, and why wasn't she telling him what she knew?

He would have to talk to his mother later, separately.

But not right now. Not while they still had to prepare for 'Kei' to move in with Kudou Shinichi.

* * *

Jii had left for the day to prepare the files Takahashi Kei would need to enrol in Teitan Elementary. Kaito decided this was the time to confront his mother and make sure she wouldn't be a substitute Kaitou KID.

"Mum, you're not going to be taking over for me as Kaitou KID, are you?"

"Of course not, dear. I'm sure my skills as a thief are not what they used to be, and I doubt I would ever be able to do magic tricks while pulling stunts like you and your father."

Kaito looked at his mother sceptically but let it go since it didn't seem like she was going to tell him anytime soon. He sighed. "There aren't going to be any miracles. No matter how much I want to return to my actual body, it's not going to happen soon enough for the heist, if ever. Which means Hakuba's going to find out at this heist."

Chikage gave him another smile, this time he thought it was meant to be reassuring however was anything but, and said, "Well, I'm glad to see my Kai-chan safe. Pocket-sized now, but safe nonetheless." With that, she headed to the kitchen to cook.

As Chikage turned to leave, Kaito thought, 'Kaitou KID won't be appearing at the heist. There's no chance for it to happen as no one else knows KID is now literally a kid, which means an imposter can't show up either.'

* * *

 **TBC**


End file.
